Internet Learning Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2012 | Page 30

Assessing Virtual Students’ Quiz Performance in Web Mediated Synchronous Instruction 29

Inspecting the Wald statistics in Table 4 shows that the associations of the non-quiz GPA
with quiz grade were quite significant (p < .01) for the most common values, encompassing the
“C+/B-” range and above, which accounted for nearly 95 percent of the sample. Lower Wald
values and associated statistical significance for the “C” range and below are of minimal
concern, given the very low frequencies in these categories. The association between attendance
mode and quiz grade produced adequate statistical significance, at the p < .05 level. The
direction of the relationship was in the anticipated direction, with in-person attendance
associated with superior performance on the quiz.
None of the experience-based variables, including students’ experience with the quiz
format or virtual attendance or the instructor’s experience with the technology platform, had any
apparent association with outcomes. This lack of relationship among quiz sequence, virtual quiz
experience, semester sequence, and quiz grade failed to demonstrate the anticipated impact of
familiarity over time—a learning curve. The absence of experience as a factor materializing in
the statistical results is surprising.
In view of diminished performance on the quizzes by virtual attendees, which were based
on the portion of the lectures dealing with contextual and political facets of budget, the question
arises about effective transmission of the remainder of the lecture, dealing with the mechanics of
completing the financial assignments. Table 5 contains the results of a regression model relating
absences and virtual attendance to the GPA on financial assignments. The model also included
control variables, semester sequence and gender, although these had no effect. The level of
virtual attendance had negligible association with GPA on financial assignments, which was the
core performance metric for the course, while there was a slightly negative, marginally
statistically significant (p < 0.10) association with absences: approximately one-tenth letter grade
reduction in the grades on applied financial assignments per absence.
Table 5.
Results of Regression Model Relating GPA on Financial Assignments to Attendance Attributes
N
R2
Adjusted R2
F Value
P>F
88
.047
.001
1.027
.398
Variables
Coefficients
Std. Error
T statistic
Significance
(Constant)
3.413
N/A
N/A
N/A
Absences from class
-0.120
0.072
-1.666
*.099
Virtual attendances
-0.005
0.026
-0.199
.843
Gender (positive =
0.106
0.143
0.741
.461
female)
Semester sequence
-0.025
0.059
-0.429
.669
* Significant at the p < .1 level.
Findings
The most important finding is the diminished teaching presence in conveying some of the lecture
material to virtual students. While significant in the limited terms of this study, this finding does
not generalize across applications of webinar technology to distance education for a number of